Green Season on the Pacific Coast: How Not to Empty Your Calendar (Aug–Sep)
August and September don't have to be dead months for your Pacific-coast Airbnb. The green season pulls demand down —market estimates put it at 10% to 25% below peak— but it doesn't switch it off: there are surfers chasing the big swells, Europeans on summer holidays, Costa Rican families on school break, and the start of whale-watching season. The move isn't to sit and wait, or to slash your price to the floor. It's to tune your rate to that different demand and keep working your listing.
If you're looking at an August calendar with more gaps than bookings, you're not alone, and it isn't "broken." The central Pacific coast changes its rhythm in the green season, and the owner who reads that rhythm —instead of fighting it— reaches December with a better track record and a stronger listing.
At Zafiro we work Jacó, Herradura, and Playa Hermosa listings every week, and we see firsthand what the green season actually brings. This is the honest map: when the green season is, how much demand really drops, what real demand exists anyway, and how to price without giving your property away.
When is the green (low) season on the Pacific coast?
The green season on Costa Rica's central Pacific coast runs, broadly, from May to November, and August–September falls squarely inside it. It's the rainy season: sunny mornings and afternoon downpours, everything greener and with less international tourism than the dry-season peak from December to March.
But "green" isn't just one thing. Inside it there are very different windows:
The veranillo (mid-July to early August): a break from the rain on the central Pacific, with drier days right in the middle of the green season.
August: still busy thanks to European summer holidays and the Costa Rican school break.
September–October: the rainiest months, with the lowest international demand.
Knowing which window you're in matters, because you don't price a big-swell weekend in August the same way you price a rainy Tuesday in September.
How much does demand really drop in the green season?
The green season pulls vacation-rental demand on the coast down by 10% to 25%, according to market estimates (it's an estimate, not an audited figure). On rates, the effect is clearer: green-season prices tend to land 25% to 35% below the December-to-March peak, and on luxury villas the adjustment can reach half. Sources: Silicon Valley Time, Jaco360.
For a Jacó market reference: over the June 2025 to May 2026 window, AirROI reported an ADR (average daily rate) of around $187, an occupancy of 34.3%, and a RevPAR of $68 for the area (AirROI Jacó, third-party data, not audited by Zafiro). That annual average already blends peak and green season: the useful read is that even in the average, two out of every three nights of the year sit empty in the area. The green season doesn't create the gap; it just makes it more visible.
The takeaway isn't depressing, it's strategic: if typical occupancy in the area is already one night in three, the room to improve yours —with a better listing and better pricing— exists precisely in the months when most owners give up.
Why don't August and September have to be dead months?
Because demand doesn't disappear in the green season: it changes type. The central Pacific coast keeps drawing travelers with very specific reasons in August and September, and they're different guests from the dry-season tourist.
What the green season does bring, firsthand:
Big swells for surfing. July and August are among the best months for waves in Jacó and Playa Hermosa. The surfer travels for the green season, not despite it —and tends to book longer stays.
European summer holidays. July–August is peak travel season for the European market, which comes to Costa Rica precisely in these months.
Costa Rican school break. Domestic tourism moves during the mid-year holidays; the Costa Rican guest books last-minute and values the green-season price.
The start of whale-watching season. On the south Pacific, humpback whale watching begins, a magnet for nature demand during the rainy season.
Sources: Silicon Valley Time, National Geographic. The point is simple: your listing isn't competing for the same guest all year. In the green season it competes for the surfer, the European on summer break, the Costa Rican family, and the nature lover. If your cover photo, your title, and your price speak to that guest, August fills differently —but it fills.
Is it worth lowering your price in the green season?
Yes, it's worth adjusting your price downward in the green season, but "adjusting" is not the same as "giving it away." Cutting blindly —posting the lowest number on the block and praying— leaves you with low-value bookings and no margin. The right move is dynamic pricing: lower than your peak, yes, but calibrated by date, day of the week, and the real demand of that window.
A common mistake is treating all of August the same. A big-swell weekend or a long weekend can hold a rate close to mid-season; a rainy Tuesday in mid-September needs a different number so it doesn't sit empty. Giving away that strong weekend is leaving money on the table; overpricing the slow Tuesday is adding another empty night.
There's also a hidden cost to slashing your price to the floor: the type of booking. In 2026 the Airbnb algorithm prioritizes booking probability and the probability of a 5-star review, and weighs cleanliness, accuracy, and check-in nearly double the overall rating (Rental Scale-Up, Host Summit 2025). A rate that's too low can attract the wrong guest and cost you a weak review —which, in the green season, with fewer bookings to dilute it, carries more weight. The goal isn't the cheapest night: it's the right booking at the best price that date will bear.
How do you price in the green season without giving the property away?
Pricing well in the green season is a process of calibrating by date, not a flat discount. These are the steps we follow:
Split the August–September windows. Swell weekends, long weekends, and the start of whale season on one side; rainy weekdays on the other. Not a single price for the whole month.
Anchor to your peak, not to the block's floor. Start from your dry-season rate and apply the green-season adjustment (market reference: 25%–35% less), pushing up on the strong dates.
Move with real demand, not with fear. If a date is approaching with no bookings, that's when you lower; if it's booking well, hold or raise. Dynamic pricing is exactly that: watch and adjust, not set and forget.
Protect the review, not just the night. A price that attracts the right guest protects your rating, which is what holds your ranking when demand is softer.
Use the long stay. The surfer and the digital nomad book by the week. A discount for a 7- or 28-night stay can fill gaps without lowering your nightly rate in plain sight.
This is exactly what a good manager does for you, every day, instead of leaving a fixed price set in January running through November.
The role of monitoring: never stop working the listing
The calendar doesn't empty all at once: it empties quietly. A listing that goes untouched in the green season —same price, same photos, same dry-season title— keeps losing ground without warning you. That's why the green season is when monthly monitoring pays off most: it's the difference between reacting in October, when the months have already passed, and adjusting in August, when there's still game to play.
Here's what monitoring looks like in practice. In Zafiro's demo organization, Costa Serena Rentals (a sample org, not a real client), the dashboard shows 8 properties under active monitoring, with an average score of 82 out of 100 and 1 property flagged as "needs attention" for dropping below the threshold. That's the value: the property that starts to slip shows up in red before it turns into a month of empty calendar, so you can adjust its price, photos, or availability in time.
In the green season, that "in time" is everything. The demand exists —waves, Europeans, Costa Ricans, whales— but it arrives spread out, and you have to go get it window by window. The listing that stays still misses it; the one that adjusts catches it.
Frequently asked questions
When is the low (green) season on Costa Rica's Pacific coast?
The green season runs roughly from May to November; August and September are squarely inside it. It's the rainy season, with less international tourism than the dry-season peak from December to March. Within the green season there are different windows: the veranillo (mid-July to early August) brings drier days, and September–October are the lowest-demand months.
How much do Airbnb prices drop in the green season?
As a market reference, green-season rates tend to land 25% to 35% below the December-to-March peak, and on luxury villas the adjustment can reach half. The demand drop is estimated at 10% to 25% (it's a market estimate, not an audited figure). The right adjustment isn't flat: it depends on the date, the day of the week, and the demand of each window.
Is it worth lowering the price in the low season?
It's worth adjusting it downward, but with judgment, not giving it away. Cutting blindly to the cheapest number in the area attracts low-value bookings and risks your review. The best move is dynamic pricing: start from your dry-season rate, apply the green-season adjustment, and push up on strong dates (big swells, long weekends, whales), calibrating date by date.
What real demand is there for an Airbnb in August and September?
Quite a bit, but different: surfers drawn by the big swells of Jacó and Playa Hermosa, European tourists on summer holidays, Costa Rican families on school break, and the start of humpback whale-watching season on the south Pacific. Your listing competes for that guest, not the dry-season one, so the photo, the title, and the price should speak to them.
What do I do with my Airbnb in the rainy season so the calendar doesn't empty out?
Don't leave it still. Adjust the price by window, offer long-stay discounts (the surfer and the digital nomad book by the week), protect the review by attracting the right guest, and monitor the listing month to month so you can react in time. The calendar empties quietly; the listing that adjusts in August beats the one that isn't touched until October.
The next step (just one)
The green season isn't a dead month: it's different demand, at a different price, for whoever goes out to get it. And August is already running. The best time to adjust your listing is before the strong dates pass, not after.
Before you write off September, check how your listing is doing —for free. Paste your property link at zafiropm.com and in under 2 minutes get your 0-to-100 score with the findings holding you back most, compared against the real market in Jacó, Herradura, and Playa Hermosa. No card, no access to your account, no commitment. Reach December with a better track record, not a blank August.
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